I was a kid when our family got our first puppy, and I was beyond excited when my dad asked who wanted to help him build a doghouse. Of course, no one was more excited than I was. As he began cutting the wood, I remember him talking about making sure it’s cut across the grain to prevent rips and splinters from hurting the dog or hurting us. I still remember the smell of the fresh pine and the sawdust that found its way onto my clothes. That was the first time I ever heard that term being used:
Against the grain.
Against The Grain
What Does “Against the Grain” Mean?
Cutting against the grain is a culinary technique used to make food more tender and easier to chew by shortening long, tough fibers. (Now this I learned from watching a lot of cooking shows on The Food Network!) But while it is most famously applied to meat, it is also useful for cutting certain wood which I initially learned from dad. In terms of people, Dictionary.com defines going against the grain as being “opposed to one’s inclination or preference.”
This memory about the grain came back to mind because during a recent networking conversation, someone suggested that I started a VA agency to help grow my brand and increase my client base. I loved the idea of that and I thought it would be a great direction as far as scaling. But when I thought about it deeper, I felt some resistance, even though I was excited about the idea. Or maybe resistance is not the right word. More so misaligned with where I’m at right now.
I like the intimate structure of my business. I like that I get to work with clients one on one. When they call, I’m the person they talk to. When they email, I’m the person replying. And they also like that they don’t have to go through a few people just to get in contact with me. There’s nothing inherently wrong with scaling, but these things would be a lot more challenging to accomplish.
Staying True to Your Own Path
One of the best things about being a solo professional is that I’m surrounded by some smart, ambitious people who are excited to offer advice, but I wanted to make sure that the business I was building was mine and not someone else’s. I want it to feel like my business. The constant pressure for us to keep up with someone else’s definition of growth is us going against our own grain.
Final Thoughts
Before we assume we need to work harder, move faster, or do more, we should take a moment to look at the direction we’re going because the grain matters. We can spend so much time trying to build a business the “right” way that we forget to ask whether it’s the right way for us. That could be the difference between frustration and flow.
Shamayne Brown is a virtual assistant and the founder of Camp Virtual Assistance.
She works with busy executives and solo professionals who are ready to invest in their business and need the support that she offers.
She specializes in creating email newsletters as well as other admin and creative design tasks.
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